is a deep freezer worth the electricity used?

[PaytonPlace]

We have thought about investing in a freezer to keep in our garage or basement. I have no knowledge of how much electricity a stand alone freezer uses. How much do you think it impacts your electric bill? Do you think it's worth it?

[Belleweather]

Oh My God, YES.

We keep our freezer in our garage, which is cooler than our house. It's impact on our electric bill is minimal, especially since we keep it full. It's impact on our ability to eat well and cheaply is HUGE. I buy in bulk and on sale so we're always paying the lowest price for meat and other frozen goods. Plus, it's lovely -- especially in the winter in bad weather -- to be able to snag something from the freezer to eat and not have to go out.

[Norasmomma]

Originally Posted by Belleweather

Oh My God, YES.

We keep our freezer in our garage, which is cooler than our house. It's impact on our electric bill is minimal, especially since we keep it full. It's impact on our ability to eat well and cheaply is HUGE. I buy in bulk and on sale so we're always paying the lowest price for meat and other frozen goods. Plus, it's lovely -- especially in the winter in bad weather -- to be able to snag something from the freezer to eat and not have to go out.

I agree with this, it makes things affordable because you can buy meats on sale, freeze veggies, milk...whatever it your family eats and have it there. Mine is filled and we are thinking of getting another to fill up with veggies and milk. I have a little one and it is full and we eat very well because of that, my friends and family are jealous of my pantry and freezer.

[dogmom327]

Absolutely! I didn't notice a difference in our bill (it might be a few dollars a month) and it allows me to buy things like organic butter on sale. I was also able to buy a side of organic, grass fed beef for about $3.40 pound for what I took home.

[SeekingJoy]

Ours was bought used and costs maybe $8-10 (at the most) to run a month. I save soooooo much more than that. I freeze stuff from my CSA and out of the garden. I stock up on frozen veggies when they go on sale for .40 ea. I buy 10+lbs of meat when it is on sale. Plus, I make double batches of meals to freeze = no take out. :

[EFmom]

Absolutely. I saw very little increase in our electric bill, and the amount of money we save is significant.

[1growingsprout]

YES YES YES we have 2... we NEED 2... the savings on groceries is huge.. the cost to my electric bill is *maybe* $15 month for both of them... we go thru groceries 'like water going over niagara falls' dh says and it allows us to stock pile, and not have to make emergency trips to the store... I LOVE MY FREEZERS.....

[stormborn]

Oh yes. Last week the groc store butcher gave me 12 organic chickens for $2 each if I bought all of the ones that ran out of date that day.: We get 1/2 steer every year too...just the savings on meat makes it worth the electricity.

[Jessie D]

Just make sure you do buy the most energy efficeint model you can find, and keep it full even if that means putting milk jugs full of water in it until you buy enough groceries to fill it. (fill jugs half way, freeze, add a quart of water, freeze, then add the last quart)

Don't forget to stock up on turkeys in November and Hams in April

[llamalluv]

Originally Posted by PaytonPlace

We have thought about investing in a freezer to keep in our garage or basement. I have no knowledge of how much electricity a stand alone freezer uses. How much do you think it impacts your electric bill? Do you think it's worth it?

We just bought a 13 cu ft chest freezer at Sears. The estimated annual kWh usage on it is 326, and our electricity costs us around $0.13/kWh (including all the taxes and fees, etc), so it will cost us about $42 to operate it for a year. It's actually less than running our two window A/C's (and those are only a year old).

We can save much more than $3.50/month by buying meat in bulk and by stocking up on milk when it's on sale for $2, etc

You need to look at the EnergyStar rating or the manufacturer's information.

A full freezer is more efficient than an empty freezer, so as you use up your frozen foods and empty it, put in rinsed out milk jugs filled with water.

[llamalluv]

Originally Posted by Jessie D

Just make sure you do buy the most energy efficeint model you can find, and keep it full even if that means putting milk jugs full of water in it until you buy enough groceries to fill it. (fill jugs half way, freeze, add a quart of water, freeze, then add the last quart)

You can just fill them about 90% full and cap them. You don't have to keep introducing warmth into the freezer.

In the winter, we let Nature do our freezing and save the electricity. I put water filled milk jugs out on the back porch over night, and when we get up in the morning, we have free ice! I plan on doing that to freeze the water jugs to fill the empty spots in our freezer.

[Norasmomma]

Originally Posted by stormborn

Oh yes. Last week the groc store butcher gave me 12 organic chickens for $2 each if I bought all of the ones that ran out of date that day.: We get 1/2 steer every year too...just the savings on meat makes it worth the electricity.

Wow that is an awesome deal, I have never seen an organic chicken for $2, the freezer makes it so worth it.

I buy Og milk at date when I go to at Safeway, I buy them all usually and spend 3.50 a gallon, freeze them and have milk for a month, well maybe a few weeks we drink a lot of milk. Which is why I want another freezer, so I can buy it Safeway and Costco and save a bunch of money. Our electric rates are really cheap-.044 cents/kwh. we have the cheapest in the country I think or at least really close.

[2 in August]

Yes! We got an energy star one and it's going to cost way less than $100 to run it for the year. We just got it in July and I know I've already saved more than $100 by buying large quantities of stuff on sale with coupons.

[stormborn]

Originally Posted by Norasmomma

Wow that is an awesome deal, I have never seen an organic chicken for $2, the freezer makes it so worth it.

Yeah, they were marked down to 4.99 (about half price here) but the butcher saw me doing the happy dance in front of the cooler and said if I would take all of them he'd cut me a deal. I was going to buy them all anyway but I didn't argue with him.

[sewingmama]

Another vote for the chest freezer! We've had one for years, and while I don't know exactly what it costs per month to run it, our electricity bill is pretty low for the size of our house, so I don't think it's very much for the freezer alone. ETA: Re: the cost of purchasing the freezer -- that's a good point. We've had ours for about seven or eight years, and we bought it at a discount at a Sears outlet store, and it's been pretty much full of food for that entire time, so I do think it's probably paid for by this point. The payback time is an excellent consideration though.

We buy beef, pork, chicken, and salmon in large portions periodically, so our chest freezer is usually stuffed pretty full. The beef in particular is cheaper per pound to buy in bulk (1/4 of a cow at a time), so I think that savings off-sets the additional electricity cost. Also, because we have the chest freezer, I've got things like lots of frozen peaches, bought recently because they're in season and cheap locally, but they'll last us most of the winter, and I've got bell peppers from my garden in the freezer too, so I won't be paying $2 a pepper all winter.

In addition, if we have a good stock of food in the freezer, we save money because we'll thaw out some steaks or burgers if nobody feels like cooking, rather than going out to dinner.

The freezer is worth it not just for the financial benefits, but for the health benefits too, though that's a little more intangible.

[llamalluv]

FYI - you do also need to calculate your payback time on the purchase price of the freezer, in addition to the cost to run it.

Ours was $406 (including tax) and we expect it to save us $40/month on meat, milk, and vegetables.

Subtracting out the the $3.50 in electric costs, that makes it $36.50/month in savings. Divide the purchase price by the monthly savings and it will take us a 11 months to reach break even, then everything after that it will be earning us $36.50/month tax free.

[gentlemango]

Originally Posted by sewingmama

I've got things like lots of frozen peaches, bought recently because they're in season and cheap locally, but they'll last us most of the winter, and I've got bell peppers from my garden in the freezer too, so I won't be paying $2 a pepper all winter

School me about freezing fruit and veggies. You can't thaw and eat them raw, right? Do you use them for purees in recipes then? I have tried to freeze mushrooms and peppers and tomatoes before and they come out destroyed. We have tomatoes rotting on the vine outside but I can't use them up fast enough.

[Vancouver Mommy]

I have a small chest freezer which is on our balcony (often in the blazing sun) and I have noticed no differnece in our bill. It isn't even a particularly new freezer.

[applecider]

Originally Posted by gentlemango

School me about freezing fruit and veggies. You can't thaw and eat them raw, right? Do you use them for purees in recipes then? I have tried to freeze mushrooms and peppers and tomatoes before and they come out destroyed. We have tomatoes rotting on the vine outside but I can't use them up fast enough.

What I did was cook up the tomatoes with onion, garlic, other veggies until soft. Then pureed and froze in a couple of cups in a container. I figure I can use this for a base for soups, sauces, whatever.

[Vancouver Mommy]

Originally Posted by cody'smomma

What I did was cook up the tomatoes with onion, garlic, other veggies until soft. Then pureed and froze in a couple of cups in a container. I figure I can use this for a base for soups, sauces, whatever.

I bought a case of organic peaches for freezing. I peeled and sliced them, sprinkled some citric acid on them and laid them on a cookie sheet to freeze. Then I put them in freezer bags. I also froze ten pounds of blueberries - I spread them on a sheet to freeze and then bagged them up. I expect to use them for pancakes, baking, smoothies, crisps or pies, although the kids like to just eat them frozen.